After Obama was Elected Stock Market Plunges

On November 4, 2008, there was a moment that will go down in history for years to come. In the article, Stocks Fall On Economic Concerns, it talks about Senator Barack Obama being elected president. The next day the DOW dropped 487 points, which is the biggest drop since the first huge drop that brought America into this economic crisis. It reminds America that although we have elected someone new as the president, it doesn't mean that all of our country's problems are gone.
This legendary event is fantastic to hear about, but it is a reminder that all of our problems aren't gone. Many people don't want to admit it but our country is in a recession. Many people do not want to accept it but people are preparing for it. For example, employers are laying off jobs. Just in the month of October, 157,000 people were out of a job. There is now many problems in our country that Barack Obama is going to be pressured to fix.

Period 1: MCGHEE, KARA: Letters Project

On November 4, 2008, voters in the U.S. will elect a new president, as well as 470 members of Congress. Whichever candidates are elected, they will face an array of pressing issues at home and abroad, all demanding attention and action. Where do we start? Voters can express their priorities in the voting booth—but young people also deserve to be heard. It’s your future too. What do you believe is the most urgent issue for the new President to tackle? What would you say to the candidates for the 470 seats open in Congress? What would you want the voting public to think about as they go to the polls? Your letter will be published for the candidates and the voting public to read. Can you convince them of the importance of the issue you care about? Can you move them to action on November 4…and after?

This is your template for writing the letter or persuasive essay you will be submitting to Letters to the Next President: Writing Our Future. Please complete all the areas in white. You may complete these sections in any order, and you may change or edit the information at any time up to the point where you submit your letter or essay. The information entered will be displayed on the Writing Our Future website to help readers find your essay and become interested in reading it.   Information needed for the website before you submit your persuasive piece: Title or headline: Readers are attracted by sharp, focused titles -- like newspaper headlines. Give your piece a short, attention-getting title that conveys your main point. Alternatives to Abortion Keywords: Choose up to three keywords for your piece to help readers find your piece by topic. Write your words here, separated by commas. Abortion, Alternatives, Adoption, Safe Haven Locations Summary lead: As readers scan the website, they will get the main idea of your piece from the summary lead.  Write a lead of no more than 75 words to summarize your main point and catch your readers' interest. There are many alternatives to abortion. For example, adoption is always an option, and the Safe Haven locations is where the mother is able to safely and anonymously drop off her baby. Mr. President, this letter is not something to make you change any laws, but to bring up the atrocities of abortion.     Writer's name or pen name: Your piece will be published under your first name and last initial, or you can use a pen name.  What first name and last initial will you use? Kara M. Instructions for composing your persuasive piece: Please use the white space below to respond to the Letters to the Next President: Writing Our Future prompt. You do not need to repeat the title and name that you have entered in the table above. You also do not need to begin with a greeting such as "Dear Future President" or sign your name at the end. Simply begin with the first sentence of the body of the letter and continue to the end, double-spacing between paragraphs. There is no minimum or maximum length. As you compose your piece, remember that you can edit, change, and correct your letter until it is ready for publication and your teacher submits it. You can invite other students or adults to read your draft and to collaborate with you or give you advice about your draft. You can also use the editing tools to help you with final editing including spell-check.

 

 

 

 

            A newborn baby is a delicate, innocent, and fragile being. The big question America has debated for awhile is: do these innocent babies have rights although they are still in their mother’s womb? All of America is asking this question. As a Christian, I side with their beliefs and from their stand point abortion is considered murder. The Bible states that life begins at conception. Many renowned medical experts agree that life begins at conception. This means that even though the fetus has not fully developed into a breathing baby, it is still living. The law on abortion in the United States mandates that, “During the first three months of pregnancy, abortions are legal in all states.”(Teen Health and Wellness: Real Life, Real Answers) Considering this, abortions do pose some health risks to the woman receiving the operation, and those risks increase as the pregnancy advances. In my opinion the mother should not risk her life to abort her baby when there are alternatives she could be educated about.

 

            There are other alternatives to abortion. From the article “Teen Pregnancy” it states, “Safe Haven laws allow the baby’s parents to drop of the child at a Safe Haven location anonymously and without fear of being arrested for abandonment or neglect…Safe Haven locations may request your name and family history, but they will not force you to share information if you don’t want to.” In my opinion, the Safe Haven is a great resource to turn to instead of abortion. Another alternative to consider is adoption.  There are so many couples who for whatever reason cannot have a baby and are looking at other ways to create a family.   I think these resources should be better advertised to women in this situation.

 

            As a teenager myself, I don’t feel that I am educated enough to discuss the scientific or medical issues relating to abortion, but as a Christian I side with pro-life.  I believe that due to some ignorance, there are teens that use abortion as a form of birth control.  I know for a fact that this is not so in many cases, but for the few that use “murder” as birth control, I would conclude that it is just plain irresponsible. There are many precautions women can take in order to avoid becoming pregnant. I know as a teenager we don’t always consider the consequences of our actions, and it would be difficult to imagine becoming pregnant during high school or even college, but the truth is, it does happen, everywhere. It saddens me when I hear that a woman would get an abortion because she wants to have a future that doesn’t involve having a baby yet.  She wants a job, or some type of future that didn’t involve carrying around a newborn. I can understand how they feel, but with options available to them such as birth control, Safe Haven, and adoption, they shouldn’t find themselves in a situation to make such a hard decision.

 

            The Christian stand point on abortion is not just a bunch of people stating their personal beliefs; the information comes from the Bible. For example in Genesis 1:26-27 it states, “Then God said, “Let us make man in our own image, in our likeness…So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him.” Genesis is known as the book of the Bible that contains the information of creation and the creation of man. God says that he creates man in His own image, every single living being is somehow created in the image of God. This means that God specifically chose mankind as the master race, living above all of the animals, and other creatures of the world. In Jeremiah 1: 4-5 it says, “The word of the Lord came to me, saying, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” This is God talking to Jeremiah concerning his future ministry as a prophet before he was born. This is the main point that this whole debate is trying to solve. God created you in His likeness, he knew you before you were born, your heart, your character, and your future was mapped out before you were conceived.

 

            This letter is not to make you, Mr. President, change any laws, but simply bring to your attention the atrocities of abortion as it is used in some cases in society today. It is used as birth control in some cases, while the mother could easily be educated earlier about the alternatives, such as adoption and the Safe Haven locations. The answer to this debate is completely explained in Jeremiah 1: 4-5. God knew your future before you were born. So even though a fetus is not considered to have rights, it is put in this world for a purpose, just like every other human being.

New Types of Food That Needs Barely any Water? Is It Possible?

In the article, The Food Chain, from the New York Times, it talks about scientists coming up with different methods of making food that can thrivc with barely any water. They are experimenting with mainly corn and wheat. What these scientists worried about is the fact that global warming is taken affect and it alters weather; which then causes shortages in water. Humans only drink 1-2 quarts of water a day but they eat much more; and the food that needs to be grown so we can eat needs around 2,000 to 3,000 quarts to produce. This is terrible news to see that our natural resources are becoming scarce because of the effect of the human population just living the way we live. For example, the air polution is possibly creating the greenhouse effect, which is thus adding to the global warming hypothesis. Most teenagers my age would probably not understand or care about this effect because it may not affect us in this time, but I am more of an enviormentalist and believe that the human race needs to better the way we live, concerning all the possibilities that could put us in harms way.

Our Dependence on Technology

In the education article, If It’s Not About Technology, Then What Is It About, from 2 cents worth David Warlick explains how much we as a population depend on technology. He made a great point when he stated the different ways we depend on technology without even knowing it. For example, if we need to drive somewhere we take an automobile, or if our clothes are dirty, we wash them in a washing machine. David Warlick also points out that because of the new technology, students and schools should incorporate technology into part of their learning. If students, who are our future, don’t know how to work the new technology, then that new technology would be worthless. It is interesting to me that David Warlick is absolutely correct. It’s very true that if students today do not learn how to work the technology we have now; we will have no means for the even newer technology if no one knows how to handle it.

Obama and McCain's Viewpoint on the Bailout Plan

In the article, “Delicate Embrace by Obama, McCain of Bailout Deal”, is an article about Senator McCain and Senetor Obama’s views and decisions on the $700 billion bailout dilema. Currently the United States’ economy is not at its best. McCain put his campaign on hold and went to Washington D.C. because he said, “I'm a Teddy Roosevelt Republican. I've got to get in the arena when America needs it.” Obama also suspended his campaign to go to Washington and speak his opinion on the bailout plan. They both support the risky plan. This plan is pretty risky, and it can either help or hurt America’s economy. In my opinion, I would probably not pass this bill. It is pretty much lowering the population’s paychecks and increasing the price of food, and other necessities, or otherwise known as inflation. My family has been greatly affected by the bad economy. We have been trying to sell our house since last February and since then we bought another house before the one on the market sold. We are now the owners of two houses. There has been a few offers on it but none near our price range and we would be losing money by selling it instead of making money. In conclusion, I disagree with McCain and Obama’s decision on the bailout plan because it will most likely end badly.

Learning Vocab and Helping People in Need

In the article, “Fight Hunger While Learning Vocab”, the Fischbowl explains the website that helps fight hunger around the world while you learn and practice new vocabulary. I have personally been to this website and think that it is a great idea. It is great to know that when you practice your vocabulary online, your are helping to feed a family or a child in poverty. In the article it says that if you get a right answer, they give you a harder question and donate twenty grains of rice to someone in poverty. If you get a question wrong they give you an easier question, so it will be easier to answer the next question so you can receive the twenty grains of rice. I have been on this site many times for school last year and the most rice I earned was around 2000 pieces. It’s a great resource to learn new vocabulary and help people in need.

Hurricane Ike Devastation

In the article, Hurricane Damage Extensive in Texas, it explains the reaction and result of Hurricane Ike. This hurricane was over 6oo miles wide which is double the size of a regularly sized hurricane, and was a category 2 hurricane when it first hit Galveston, Texas. Galveston was probably the biggest worry among the affected areas all throughout Texas. It is an island off the coast of Texas. A mandatory evacuation was announced, almost all of the people evacuated. Some people stayed despite the news channels that concured that Galveston would be under water by the time the massive storm passed. All around the Texas area and some of Louisiana had no power during and after the storm, and this category 2 hurricane blew out windows, ripped sheets of metal off of skyscrapers and buildings, and ripped bus stop shelters apart. Although this damage was extensive it was not proved as bad as the weather channels thought it would be. They thought the surges would exceed the sea walls of Galveston and the Texas area and create more flooding than there really was.

In the world today the most devastating storms to come ashore are considered to be tsunamis and hurricanes, but for the U.S., hurricanes are the most dangerous. To me it is sad to see that some people did not evacuate Galveston when there was a mandatory evacuation. While I was watching the news before the hurricane hit they were asking the people who disregarded the evacuation to write their name and social security number on their arm, only because the weather stations concluded that Galveston would be under water after the hurricane hit. Although I disagree with the decision made by the people who thought they could ride out the storm, I do have an understanding and respect for them. I would assume that they had to be evacuated from their homes more than once or twice, so I think that they would try to ride it out because they didn't want to leave their home to go stay with a relative or in a hotel only to hope they had a house to come back to.